road to ruin
by prophet of the dark net
Summary: Far from home, an elladrin embarks on a quest to return to the feywilds. On his journey, he'll meet vampires, mad wizards, a crazy sage and some folks you'd rather not know. First story. Either hardcore T or softcore M for physical violence and language. Enjoy.


Aralan threw his head back as he downed the contents of his bottle into his mouth. He was sitting at the bar in an inn downtown. It was noisy, smelly and everything but comfortable, but it was the only place where he could get wine. The price had gone up again, and now he was forced to go down to this dump in order to spend his few valuable gold pieces on something that could get him drunk.

A new face entering the inn drew his attention. A dwarf in heavy armour, carrying a big maul on his shoulder. He was followed by a high elf in golden robes carrying a giggling, green fearie dragon on his shoulder.

It was a little commotion about giving directions. It ended with a broke paladin leaving the tavern with an angry expression.

 _"This could get fun."_

The elladrin had disappeared from his bar stool.

* * *

The dwarven paladin walked angrily down the street when the golden dressed high elf started talking: "You know, Oskar, you could have just tried somewhere else."

"Val, not everything is about money. Now we know where the temple is, so we don't need to talk to other scum in this town."

"I thought I told you that my name is Elidyr."

"And I thought I told you that a name you give to yourself is nonsense."

"It's my culture. I'm an adult, so I chose my own name."

"And it's my culture that you get a name given to you and that you wear it with pride."

"We could keep talking like this forever. Wait, wasn't the temple supposed to be here?"

They both looked around for the temple until they realized that a building ready to collapse was supposed to be what they were looking for.

"This is outrageous! Who runs this town?"

A mysterious voice answered: "Randall, a human wizard rules this city. I could arrange an audience, if you like."

Turning their heads to the source of the response, Elidyr and Oskar saw an elladrin rogue leaning against a nearby building.

"We don't have the money to pay for any 'favours'."

"Oh, don't worry, friend. This one is for free. But while we're chitchatting here anyway, what's your business in this town? Those that can afford it usually avoid Greybark."

"I was sent here to deliver a message to the local temple. They have been out of touch for a few months now. I can see why."

"Yes, indeed, the immediate effects of our current ruler are quiet….harsh."

"I remember Greybark being a prosperous town. What happened?"

"Our benevolent ruler Randall the dead happened. He came in charge years ago; at the time I arrived in this plane and was unlucky enough to end up in this place."

"Coming to this plane?" the high elf joined in.

"You of all should've seen it: I look like a high elf, but I'm clearly different. I'm from the feywilds. I came to this world seeking… doesn't matter. When I arrived, the crossing I used got destroyed and I don't know about any other crossings. Also, there has been a shifting in the planes. This kingdom used to be more attuned with the fey realm, but now it's dangerously close to the shadowfell. When you look around, it's obvious: grey clouds only letting through enough light to barely sustain plants

"Anyways, Randal decided a few months ago to close down the temple for some reason. We don't miss it though, because all those who made use of it left already."

The elladrin looked up, trying to recall something.

"Oh, that's right. You wanted to see Randal. Follow me."

The rogue led the dwarf and his friend to a strange black pool in the centre of the town.

"All right, gentlemen. Jump in."

"This is an abyss portal, but where does it lead?"

"It leads to Randal's secret castle hidden in a demi-plane. By making it inaccessible without this portal, he ensures that nobody can enter without him knowing it. "

They jumped into the black pool, to be warped to the front door of Randal's castle. Because the portal was standing vertically here, they had to take a second to readjust their balance.

"Another security measure. Like this, it's impossible to charge into the portal without falling once you reach the other side. You can't go back this way either, because charging through the portal will mean that you'll fly out of the pool and fall back in, sending you back here."

"This man sounds really paranoid. Surely these security measures are only for show."

"A poor town is being squeezed dry by a corrupt wizard, who forces people to stay because they lack the means to leave. Many have thought to assassinate him or to rebel, but with all these measures, it's impossible to reach him."

They started walking towards the castle.

"You'll find no guards here, but despite that, Randal enjoys one of the safest positions in all of Oerth. The secret lies in his court: a ragtag band of capable men. They almost never leave his side, and if they do, it means trouble for whoever made them leave. I've had little time to study them, but this is what I've discovered: one of them is an assassin and his most reliable enforcer, another is a tiefling with strong magical abilities and the last one is a half-orc with a big Warhammer. All of them are lethal and will hunt you down if you anger Randal."

"I only mean to ask why he abandoned this town's temple."

Aralan chuckled: "go ahead then."

They arrived at the door to the throne room. Finding the way was easy, because for some reason all other doors were locked.

"Wouldn't one of his court members have met us by now?" the high elf inquired.

"They don't need to. They knew we entered and saw every step we made since then."

Aralan stepped back: "gentlemen, I wish you luck."

* * *

What happened inside there is known by six, and four walked away from it. The only thing Aralan heard was a blast right before the dwarf and high elf flew out of the door. Their bodies were burned all over and the paladin had an arrow piercing his guts. They were dead before they hit the ground.

Aralan walked into the throne room. Randall was sitting on his throne with a rogue standing at his left hand and a tiefling on the other. Without noticing it, Aralan had passed a half-orc who was leaning against the wall opposite to the throne.

"So, is there a reward?"

"For what exactly?"

"I brought these troublemakers to you. It could've meant bad business if they had gone around and pulled attention to you."

The drow rogue drew Randal's attention and whispered in his ear: "Master, the easiest way to get rid of him would be to kill him now. Do I have permission?"

"You're right. It's not the first time he's bothering me and it won't be the last."

Randall faced Aralan again while giving a subtle gesture to the tiefling to close the door.

"So, you wish from me that I reward you for dragging two harmless disturbances to me? Who do you think you are?"

"Well, if you're not willing to pay, then I suppose I'll take my leave."

The doors slammed shut behind him at the command of the tiefling's magic.

"This is the 27th time you bothered our master. This time you'll perish for it."

"Indeed. Just like I perished the first 26 times. Truly, if the abyss and nine hells are like this, then I can assume that the afterlife is going to be one hell of a party wherever they send me."

The orc growled: "Do I really need to squash your head against the floor, or are you going to take this seriously."

"I can assure you, my … truculent friend that I take this very serious."

The rogue had already drawn his bow and the tiefling started a quiet chant while channeling magical power in his right hand. (Wait... that rhymed)

Aralan started walking backwards towards the door while continuing with his sarcastic behaviour: "Anyway, gentlemen, I think it's time to say goodbye. It was truly a pleasure to catch up, but I think we should save a more extensive conversation for another time. Perhaps if you have time tomorrow, I could just hop in and…"

The elladrin ducked, barely dodging an arrow coming from the drow. He stood back up and immediately had to jump aside to dodge three magic missiles coming from the tiefling.

"One would expect, Morthos, that by being one of the most trusted advisors of a wizard as grand as our benevolent lord and saviour over there, you'd have mastered controlling those arcane spasms you call spells by now. Or is your dear master getting too senile to teach you something useful?"

Randall stood up, making all the torches illuminating the room spit fire. "Keth, smash his body to dust!"

The barbarian obeyed his master and charged at Aralan with his maul ready to smash. Aralan responded by nimbly dashing back to dodge the attack and silently whispering: "sine vestigium!"

He had disappeared before making his feet touch the ground again, leaving behind only a deep, untraceable laugh that echoed through the chamber.

"Master", the rogue said, breaking the silence that followed "should we search for him?"

"No, Laucian. He's gone, but he'll come back." Randal started to look aggravated: "he'll always come back."

A brief silence filled the chamber again.

"There is one thing I'm wondering, master."

"What?"

"How does he know where the exit is?"

* * *

Aralan hadn't left the castle just yet and had broken into Randall's archive. It wasn't that impressive, but it held some interesting information.

"…, necromantic immortality… trolling around with enchantment magic…" Aralan looked around and ripped out that page.

"…, the order of Magikas. That's it." He ripped out the page and faded into the darkness.

* * *

"So you're still here, damn troublemaker?!"

Running through the hallway, he almost tripped over a loose tile. Laucian was chasing him again, but he couldn't help but smile. Tricking and making fun of people was one of his few joys in this world. At the end of this corridor was the exit portal; just one last sprint. He turned around a corner and looked upon a black gate. He charged through the portal and appeared in an alley in the town. Charging out of the portal, he rushed through the maze of streets and caught a glimpse of a single witness cloaked in black, whose facial features faded from his mind the moment he stopped looking.

"Now to find those mages."

* * *

First chapter up in the air. typing the basics of this took me one afternoon, but i tweaked the details over the course of at least 2 months.

I think most of the negative reviews are going to be about content rather than grammar and spelling.

I already got the base of 5 more chapters ready, but you can still suggest things.

I highly encourage you to review.

-webspectre


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